There is more to investing funds than maximizing a financial return. Companies make choices which, beyond their own financial well-being, also affect people and the environment. Investing in a company is an affirmation of all the choices it makes, an affirmation that should be made with a clear conscience. And more than dealing with one's conscience, it also makes good sense to invest in companies that are governed well and choose to minimize any adverse impact on society and the environment. Indeed, when an unexpected news story reports that a company is having an adverse such impact, its stock value may drop, wiping out wealth immediately.
Companies that take care to have good corporate governance, and also minimize any adverse societal and environmental impact, are more likely to be sustainable over the long term. As such, they represent a better investment choice. But how is an investor to make such good choices? While there exist ratings and analyses for financial returns of companies, there are no generally accepted yardsticks for comparing companies on the basis of the impact they have on society and the environment. For example, it is difficult to compare an oil company that creates useful products while causing some pollution, to a financial services company that does not pollute.
Sustainability minded investors face a further unknown when it comes to investing in instruments (bonds, etc.) of whole governments. Some governments restrict the freedoms of their people, while others pollute the environment, or accept money for receiving others' pollutants. Investors would like to know about such activities, before loaning money to such governments.
Such investors may have their own ideals, standards, or perspectives to apply to data concerning a particular company, an industry, government, or an arbitrary selection of companies such as contained in the investor's portfolio or watch list, and would be benefited by a system and method that permitted such flexibility. The present invention addresses these and other needs.